THE GARDEN WEEK BY WEEK 



S-fr ~-^==^. 



Fig. 8.— Shortening a Three- Year-Old 

 Apple. 



c. Branches to be cut hard back. 



d. All ends of branches to be cut off at the 



dark lines. 



summer side shoots to 

 near the main branches. 

 The grower should aim 

 at a well-furnished, but 

 uncrowded, tree. If his 

 trees have from ten to 

 fifteen main branches 

 that stand quite clear 

 of each other, are free 

 from tangled shoots, 

 and the wood is not 

 too gross, they are 

 sure to bear. 



The pruner should 

 always cut as close to 



a bud as possible without undermining it, and when he 



is pruning for extension — 



that is, cutting back young ^ v'V A.t f r y _c 



trees — he should cut to a 



shoot bud on the outside l-VX?^l A\/i jf./€i 



of the branch in order that 



the resulting branch may 



grow outward instead of 



inward. Any shoot that 



grows towards the centre 



of the tree, and crosses its 



neighbours, should be cut 



clean out. 



The fruiting of Apple 



trees is greatly encouraged Fig. q.-Winter pruning apples. 



*^ •' . ,• , T Right side of Apple tree (a) pruned. 



by summer prunmg, WniCn 1 Left side of Apple tree {d) not pruned. 



.,, J I -ii • -A ^^^^ c. Leading shoots shortened. 



Will deal With m its proper ^. side brinches pruned. 



month. 



Root pruning is called for in some cases, but it is 

 30 



